Tutorial 3: Terhune

Monday, July 2 2012 9:15 - 12:30 @ Old Ship Hotel

Tutorial 3: "A primer on experimental hypnosis research"

Devin Terhune (Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, UK)

SUMMARY:

The study of hypnosis can provide valuable information regarding the nature of consciousness.

Investigating responses to hypnotic suggestions in highly suggestible individuals can yield numerous insights into agency, cognitive control, and conscious awareness. Hypnosis can also be used in an instrumental manner to systematically induce, disrupt, or otherwise alter a host of processes related to consciousness. In turn, hypnosis can aid us in investigating different phenomena that are otherwise difficult to experimentally manipulate in a laboratory setting. The central aim of this tutorial is to give a broad introduction to experimental hypnosis research.

First, I will first provide a brief history of hypnosis and introduce the instruments and procedures used by hypnosis researchers. I will devote considerable time to the measurement of hypnotic suggestibility and discuss the developmental and genetic determinants of hypnotic suggestibility and assess evidence for its cognitive and personality correlates. Next, I will describe and weigh the evidence for different theories of hypnosis and review research bearing on the cognitive and neural basis of hypnotic responding.

Finally, I will conclude by outlining the use of hypnosis as an experimental technique for studying consciousness and describe how it can be utilized to investigate different research questions.

Tutorial Outline:

The tutorial will be divided into two sections interrupted by a short break. The first part will provide a broad introduction to hypnosis with a focus on the measurement of hypnotic suggestibility and its correlates and determinants as well as research designs used in the field. The second part of the tutorial will cover recent findings regarding the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying a hypnotic induction, response to hypnotic suggestions and different theories of hypnosis. I will conclude this part by describing the instrumental use of hypnosis for the study of consciousness. I describe these two parts in turn.

Part I

This part of the tutorial will provide an introduction to hypnosis, the measurement of hypnotic suggestibility, its correlates and different experimental research designs used in hypnosis. Following a brief outline, I will begin the course by tracking the origins of hypnosis research in the 18th and 19th century followed by an overview of important developments in the 20th century. Next, I will describe and dispel different myths regarding hypnosis; some examples are: spontaneous posthypnotic amnesia, hypnotic recovery of memories, and complete loss of control during hypnosis. I will introduce a brief lexicon of different words pertaining to hypnosis, mentioning what is meant by hypnosis, an induction, a suggestion, and so on. Then I will devote considerable time to the measurement of hypnotic suggestibility; I will introduce the most commonly used instruments, provide a taxonomy of different types of suggestions, and discuss the distribution of hypnotic suggestibility.

Next, I will turn to the response characteristics of individuals who are highly suggestible with a focus on involuntariness and verisimilitude during hypnotic responses. Following these topics, I will describe the current state of the evidence regarding the developmental and genetic determinants of hypnotic suggestibility. I will then describe research investigating potential cognitive (e.g., suggestibility) and personality (e.g., absorption) correlates of hypnotic suggestibility. I will conclude this part of the tutorial by describing different research designs used in experimental hypnosis research such as the real-simulator and surreptitious observer designs and illustrate how they can be used.

Part II

This part of the tutorial will focus on different theories of hypnosis, the available evidence regarding its neurocognitive mechanisms, and the use of hypnosis as an experimental technique for studying other phenomena.

I will begin by providing a broad overview of the assumptions of sociocognitive and dissociation theories of hypnosis. I will devote considerable time to the major theories of hypnosis as well as more recent cognitive and neurophysiological models of hypnosis. Next, I will outline the current evidence regarding the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying response to a hypnotic induction and to particular hypnotic suggestions.

The final part of the tutorial will cover the experimental application of hypnosis. First, I will outline the assumptions and guiding principles of instrumental hypnosis research with a focus on the strengths and limitations of using hypnosis as an experimental method. I will conclude the tutorial with a detailed description of the utilization of hypnosis for the study of consciousness. I will outline how hypnosis can be used in this manner and provide examples taken from hypnosis research on agency, awareness, attention and perception.

Finally, I will conclude by considering with the attendees how hypnosis could be used to address different research questions.